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So wait... you ate the food first, and then complained and said you weren't going to pay for the food you had already enjoyed?
I can see how that would have worked if you had complained at the start, management said they were going to fix it, and then didn't. But you basically sat through the meal and then refused to pay the hundreds of dollars for the tab?
Is that even legal??
No, it's not legal He could have (should have!) been arrested if he ate a $300 meal and then decided to leave without paying. He's lucky they didn't sic the football players on him in the parking lot!
You had every right to confront her about her loud child. Regardless of what she may have been going through, that doesn't excuse her right to let her child run amok in a public restaurant. If the child would've gotten hurt, the parent would've wanted to sue.
You had every right to confront her about her loud child. Regardless of what she may have been going through, that doesn't excuse her right to let her child run amok in a public restaurant. If the child would've gotten hurt, the parent would've wanted to sue.
This is seven years old - I doubt the issue is still outstanding.
You had every right to confront her about her loud child. Regardless of what she may have been going through, that doesn't excuse her right to let her child run amok in a public restaurant. If the child would've gotten hurt, the parent would've wanted to sue.
You're right. Those are the type who will get some shady lawyer involved if something happens when their kids are acting a fool while the parents are playing on their phones or something stupid like that, instead of instilling any sense of manners in their children.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla
My advice is, eat at home instead of going to a family style restaurant.
No, I don't think so. I've been to quite a few restaurants where kids are present, including family style ones, and have not seen anything close to the poor behavior (on the part of both the parents and the children) I saw at this particular business. And it's interesting that in the almost three years since the original post, I haven't seen another example of behavior this outrageous. So I have no issues with people taking their kids to restaurants, because thankfully, most people still have much better manners than what I had to deal with that day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Missy2U
This is seven years old - I doubt the issue is still outstanding.
It's interesting this thread is still alive and has been so active, beyond what I would have anticipated when I started the thread. I'm only revisiting it because I saw a notification where someone had left a comment. But yes, I've moved on, even though I do occasionally share that story with people as an example of how people should have their kids behave in public. And they agree with me.
Little kids will be little kids, that doesn't mean they can't have manners. Running around, crawling on the floor, screaming, etc...is not acceptable behavior.
If you can't control kids in a restaurant, than eat at home.
^^^ This.
OP, I think you did good for yourself and others. The waiter or a manager would have their own interest in this situation that is different from yours. They would worry about what this woman will post on FB, whether or not she is going to pay for her meal after their attempt to quiet her kids behavior.
As a less polite than you person, I would spit out something like "So, making others miserable is your way to bereave?", but even I would regret it later. You did good. Don't sweat over her words. You couldn't possibly know what's going on in her life.
Handling little issues without escalating is a good way do deal with them. Escalating creates unnecessary stir between more parties that need to participate. I had a neighbor with a nasty yard covered with dog's poop. Instead of calling city authorities, I jus approached him and with my rough (naturally) voice told him "You need to clean this up". And he did. The problem was solved in a shortest and simplest way. None of us spent time on dealing with third parties. If he looked like a criminal, then I would take a different route, but dealing with overall normal people I would try resolving issues directly with them.
I like that suggestion, and yes, I would have done that. But I didn't feel a need to be moved once I had politely requested her to get her son to tone it down a bit, and she did have her son calm down. Her rather aggressively confronting me happened when she left, after I thought things were politely settled.
She probably didn't dare say anything until they were leaving....It likely wouldn't have had the same impact as having the last word obviously made her feel vindicated.
I personally have never done that, but it isn't because I haven't wanted too. I usually just make eye contact with the kid.....which sometimes seems to unnerve kids....must be my Mama eyes....lol
My pet peeve is a kid repeatedly kicking the back of your seat on a plane.
My parents didn't take my brother and I out to eat until we could sit in our seats and behave. I'm sure on some occasions they took us out when we were younger or babies, like on special occasions like birthdays, Mother's Day, etc., at least, where we'd go to diners or other places that were casual and not super nice. But even then, if we would misbehave or get unruly or too energetic at any time, they would quickly take us out until we could behave again inside. My parents did not tolerate disruption or unruliness from us in pretty much any enclosed public space, including stores, aquariums, etc. We'd be removed rather swiftly from any establishment if we started to become a problem, and we knew it was coming, too, and I remember knowing to behave or else we'd be leaving. Usually I didn't want to leave, so the threat worked.
But I think it's just common courtesy for all parents to have similar attitudes and actions my parents took. No one wants to be next to loud, unruly kids at dinner. No one, don't even deny it. Obviously we all have different tolerance and patience levels and some people expect far too much from kids but I think most can agree on when a kid and their parent have gone too far. Any excessive screaming, running around and in between tables, constantly bumping into others' seats or tables, showing up at other people's tables (I've seen kids do this - all of the sudden, some kid is next to me as if they're going to join our family). It would take a lot for me to get the nerve to say something, but I can sure feel OP's pain here and understand why they did what they did in the OP (which is only 3 years old, not 7 lol).
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